To Aru Kagaku no Railgun - Character Discussion - Uiharu "Mystery Power" Kazari

[tsunade666]

the touch thing can extend. But it maybe differ on each ability user. Kuroko and Misaka had a good range for their AIM while Accel has his AIM only a few milimeter or nanometer from his skin.

Maybe if uiharu grow stronger her AIM field will become bigger.

[Jimmy C]

It occurs to me that Uiharu can use her power to hold extremely hot or cold things without injury. If she wears a protector, like gloves, she can prevent that protector's temperature from changing, and thus perfect insulation.

[tsunade666]

she will get injured. Its not like she's immune to it. If you look at the taiyaki in the box. It will probably not to hot plus its not like she's holding it directly. Its the box she's holding and she's constantly monitoring the temperature inside the box. And being a level 1. I presume its not that strong. Pretty much that's all she could do.

Maybe with her ability she can photosynthesis. That's why her flowers never wither.

[MeisterBabylon]

I still don't see how constant temperature can keep flowers fresh for eternity... o_O

Or how they disappear when her HP hits zero. O_o

[Alhazred]

Okay, pure speculation about how the flowers could be related to her power, even though they're probably unrelated and the novel/manga/anime writers are just trolling everyone with their hints:

Uiharu's power ostensibly forces objects to maintain a constant temperature. This means her power could potentially force any object with a temperature above absolute zero to:
-Become a perfect insulator/reflector that does not absorb any thermal radiation from the environment
-Become a continuous power source that emits thermal radiation into the environment at a constant rate

Given those assumptions:
-What if her power actually affects a 'zone' defined by shaping her AIM, and she just uses actual physical objects as a convenient way to construct the parameters of the 'box?'
-What if she can (unconsciously) cause her AIM to reflect/emit other types of electromagnetic radiation, such as light?

The mechanics of it would be... weird, to say the least, but that could potentially allow her to create visible 'after images' of things that are no longer there, such as a flower headband that she may have worn years ago, but doesn't have anymore...

[Jimmy C]

Originally Posted by tsunade666

she will get injured. Its not like she's immune to it. If you look at the taiyaki in the box. It will probably not to hot plus its not like she's holding it directly.

Different situation. The taiyaki box has already absorbed some heat from the tayaiki inside, so it has warmed up.
A pair of gloves, however, would be at ambient temperature. As long as she can keep them at ambient temperature, she can use them to grip extremely hot or cold things. There'd be nothing she could do about the temperature of the thing she's holding, but she won't be burned by it.

Originally Posted by Alhazred

but that could potentially allow her to create visible 'after images' of things that are no longer there, such as a flower headband that she may have worn years ago, but doesn't have anymore...

As was mentioned in the vol3 omake, those flowers are real. Of course, the canonicity of that is subject to debate...

I don't think Uiharu will be able to affect anything beyond temperature even at higher levels unless she makes a conceptual breakthrough about how her power ought to work. I say "ought to" because the talk of "personal reality" makes me think esper powers in Academy City work the way they do because their users think they're "supposed to" work that way.
What causes things to become hotter or colder? Their atoms vibrating stronger or weaker. Should she make the conceptual link between heat and motion, she might not be able to fling things around like the Accelerator, but she might be able to shake them apart.
But right now, her concept of "heat" is this sensation she feels with her skin. So all she can do is keep that sensation the same.

[Alhazred]

Originally Posted by Jimmy C

As was mentioned in the vol3 omake, those flowers are real. Of course, the canonicity of that is subject to debate...

Every time the flowers come up in an omake, they seem to do something different, so i suppose i'm just going by 'anime canon.' In the anime, her power is specifically explained, nobody ever physically touches her flowers (as far as i'm aware), and on the most recent occasion where someone mentioned them to her, she behaved as though she was unaware of their existence. She might have been faking it that time, though, if she just doesn't want to talk about them (though that seems uncharacteristically clever, for Uiharu)...

Originally Posted by Jimmy C

I don't think Uiharu will be able to affect anything beyond temperature even at higher levels unless she makes a conceptual breakthrough about how her power ought to work. I say "ought to" because the talk of "personal reality" makes me think esper powers in Academy City work the way they do because their users think they're "supposed to" work that way.
What causes things to become hotter or colder? Their atoms vibrating stronger or weaker. Should she make the conceptual link between heat and motion, she might not be able to fling things around like the Accelerator, but she might be able to shake them apart.
But right now, her concept of "heat" is this sensation she feels with her skin. So all she can do is keep that sensation the same.

Hmm... if she believes that her power is to keep temperature 'constant,' then 'increasing' or 'decreasing' temperature might be beyond the pale, conceptually. If she made the conceptual link between 'heat' and 'motion' then i think it's more likely she'd be able to use her power to imbue an object with 'constant motion,' for a given frame of reference; i.e., she'd be able to make objects in motion 'unstoppable' and objects at rest 'immovable.'

[babohtea]

As always, it's time for me to have some FUN with To Aru physics.

Uiharu can maintain a specific temperature. This means that there will be no transfer of thermal energy while Uiharu is in the area. THIS IS AMAZING.

99.99% of all chemical reactions have a change in entropy. Uiharu can stop this, and therefore stop all chemical reactions. Uiharu touches a person, shut's off the chemical reactions in their brain, and Uiharu wins.

Also, almost all physical reactions have some sort of heat release (running has quite a lot, actually). So, in any mechanical system (and most other systems too) Uiharu can keep the heat from being released properly. Now, if you maintain the temperature of the coolant of an engine, or simply don't allow the air or substance around the system to get warmer, something as simple as running will now cause your legs to BOIL because all of the heat is stuck inside.

UIHARU WINS THE GAME. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE HER.
That being said it's quite unlikely that the author of To Aru realizes the implications of trying to make super powers physics based.

[Seihai]

So it can become dangerous if you're her boyfriend and try to do this and that? D:

[LastResolve]

what if she can control the vibrations between molecule?

[Alhazred]

Originally Posted by babohtea

As always, it's time for me to have some FUN with To Aru physics.

Uiharu can maintain a specific temperature. This means that there will be no transfer of thermal energy while Uiharu is in the area. THIS IS AMAZING.

Hmm... this breaks down a little bit because she says that she can't handle hot things. If her power were to completely stop thermal transfer, then anything she touched would feel the exact same temperature as her hand, because there would be no thermal transfer between her hand and the object. She would be able to touch anything, and it would always feel the same, neither hot nor cold - unless she can't affect objects instantly, in which case she would still risk burns from touching hot objects.

Of course, if she can maintain the temperature of any object she touches, then she should be able to maintain the temperature of her own skin/hand to prevent burning, unless she can't affect her own body yet (like Kuroko couldn't initially teleport herself).

[babohtea]

Point is, any ability has potential to be infinitely ridiculous, despite how lame it may seem on paper. On the other hand, some of the simple ideas on paper really translate ridiculously in real life.

[taofd]

Originally Posted by LastResolve

what if she can control the vibrations between molecule?

Holy flower power batman, fusion!~

[Tabasco]

Originally Posted by babohtea

As always, it's time for me to have some FUN with To Aru physics.

Uiharu can maintain a specific temperature. This means that there will be no transfer of thermal energy while Uiharu is in the area. THIS IS AMAZING.

99.99% of all chemical reactions have a change in entropy. Uiharu can stop this, and therefore stop all chemical reactions. Uiharu touches a person, shut's off the chemical reactions in their brain, and Uiharu wins.

Also, almost all physical reactions have some sort of heat release (running has quite a lot, actually). So, in any mechanical system (and most other systems too) Uiharu can keep the heat from being released properly. Now, if you maintain the temperature of the coolant of an engine, or simply don't allow the air or substance around the system to get warmer, something as simple as running will now cause your legs to BOIL because all of the heat is stuck inside.

UIHARU WINS THE GAME. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE HER.
That being said it's quite unlikely that the author of To Aru realizes the implications of trying to make super powers physics based.

It doesn't even have to be that complicated.

Assume all she can do is force a specific temperature for an object. If she forces the body temperature of an attacker to much below normal temp, they stop cold in hypothermia, no ifs, ands, or buts. Depending on what temp she selects, it can be anything from debilitating shivering and immobility to instant death. An extremely handy skill for a law enforcer, since she has a range of options to play with.

[Marcus H.]

More like taking "FREEZE!!!" into a whole new meaning.

[babohtea]

I thought she could only maintain temperatures where they were? Correct me?

[Alhazred]

Originally Posted by babohtea

I thought she could only maintain temperatures where they were? Correct me?

That is the case, yes. She's just a level 1 ( or 2?) though, so everybody is now speculating about what she could be capable of if she leveled up. Since her power is specifically to keep the temperature the same, and we've already seen a power user whose power functions in a similar fashion (constant speed), it seems a little unlikely to me that improvements would give her gradient control over temperature, but it's still possible, i guess. We don't have much to go on yet. We don't even know if it's a 'one way' or a 'two way' ability, after all; i.e., can she keep things from heating up in addition to keeping them from cooling down?

[tsunade666]

level 1.

the power to specifically to keep the temperature the same. Can branch out on lots of way. From freezing and heating up. That's why she's been on hot topic because her ability is interesting. But the problem is its range. Which it could have a little range for practical use. For her a direct contact is hard.

[doopy423]

so thats how she keeps her computer from overheating whens shes doing her crazy computer stuff.

[Avegaille]

Originally Posted by Alhazred

Every time the flowers come up in an omake, they seem to do something different, so i suppose i'm just going by 'anime canon.' In the anime, her power is specifically explained, nobody ever physically touches her flowers (as far as i'm aware), and on the most recent occasion where someone mentioned them to her, she behaved as though she was unaware of their existence. She might have been faking it that time, though, if she just doesn't want to talk about them (though that seems uncharacteristically clever, for Uiharu)...

Actually, Kuroko does touch Uiharu's flowers in Episode 1 of Railgun. It's in the crepe scene just before Mikoto and Saten approach them.